Pacquiao looks back at 2010
By Eddie Alinea
PhilBoxing.com
Thu, 23 Dec 2010
Manny Pacquiao set the pool cue into his hands and bends down to eye the angle of a long bank shot. It was past midnight Thursday, eve of his 32nd birthday celebration at the Pacman Billiards Hall in General Santos City. A steady stream of barflies approach the table to challenge the eight-division champion, while other pool center regulars settled on their barstools to watch. Still about a hundred or more were peeking on the glass walls to see their idol strut wares with all comers.
This, according to many, had been the sight each coming of dawn since Pacquiao, the reigning world welterweight and super-welterweight kingpin, took advantage of a long vacation from his job as a congressman of the lone district of Sarangani province and set foot in this, former Dadiangas town, to prepare for the grand celebration.
After each game of pool, Pacquiao, boxing?s pound-for-pound king for past four years, and his companion, a reporter, continued their on-going conversation centered on his profession, his new job as a lawmaker and his life after boxing.
The two had spent several days together with Pacquiao recalling how life was when he was still growing up at the slum area of Barangay Sabangal that city, home to mixed Christan and Muslim poor then known as the version of ?Tondo? that part of General Santos. How he completed his elementry education at the Saavedra Saway Elementary School, dropped out of high school due to extreme poverty. How he left his mother Aleng Dionisia and his five other siblings at age 14 to try his luck in the big city Manila.
How, at age 16 and a 98-pound rookie, he had to pad his weight to meet the 106-pound light-flyweight limit and won his first professional fight on January 22, 1995 over one Edmund ?Enteng? Ignacio via a unanimous decision victory. How he compiled a remarkable 52 wins in his 57 fights since then, 38 of them via stoppage, on the way to crowning himself the world flyweight, super-bantamweight, super-featherweight, lightweight light-welterweight, welterweight, light-middleweight and Ring Magazine featherweight champion.
The ?Pacman? and his journalist friend met again evening of the same day at the Lledo Family Ranch where owner Rudolf and Virginia along with siblings Mark, Stock Shandy and Goody, wife of another world boxing champion Gerry Penalosa tendered a reception in his honor. During the occasion, Pacquiao described how year 2010 was for him even as he discussed what lies ahead of him in the near future.
There was, in fact, little talk about boxing in the duo?s conversation as he emphasized more on the challenges befacing him as a lawmaker representing his wife Jinkee?s province at the House of Representatives.
Never mind, he said, about his token victories over Ghanian Joshua Clottey and Mexican Antonio Margarito, both on lopsided unanimous decisions. The biggest thing that happened to him in this year to end was his election in the last political exercise.
?Year 2010 will down as the most memorable year of my life,? he confided. ?Pinaka-memorable dahil sa panalo ko hindi sa ibabaw ng ring kundi sa political arena.?
?Masaya dahil nakamit ko ang tagumpay sa kabila ng hula na muli akong mabibigo. Marami ang nag-discourage sa akin na huwag tumakbo at tiyak na matstlo skong muli gaya ng pagkatqlo ko sa Gen San,? he recounted. ?Hindi raw ako marunong magsalita and that I was not qualified.?
?But I believed in myself, I took the challenge and with the Grace of God, I emerged victorious. Meaning, kung talgang naniniwala ka sa sarili mong kakayahan at tyutulungan ka ng Diyos, makamit mo ang gusto mo,? he said.
?Like when I trained for my two fights against Clottey and Margarito, nag-sakripisyo din ako para kumampanya. Doble pa nga dahil nagensayo ako para sa darating na lanan ko,? he said. ?Compensated naman dahil tinalo both my ring opponents and my election rival.?
?Yes, definitely, sooner or later, I will be retiring from boxing. But that?s not necessarily mean iiwanan ko ang pagsisilbi ko sa bayana natin as sa mga kababayan natin,? he explained. ?Lilipat lamang ako ng venue. Mula sa ring patungo sa government service na sa tingin ko ay mas malawak at mas marami ang mapagsisilbihan.?
?Ayokong sabihing magiging politico ako. Gusto ko malaman ng tao na magsislbi ako sa kanila bilang public servant. Alam kong masama ang connotation ng being a politician. Kaya babaguhin ko ang imaheng yan ng politico. Ipakikita ko na ang ibig sabihin ng pulitiko at pulitika ay pagsisilbi sa bayan at sa mga kabayanan natin,? he stressed.
?I also want to clarify that I am not interested in a seat in the Senate. Nor to become a vice president ad, much more, President. Hindi ko pangarap yan. Kung magkatotoo man, dqarating yan dahil maganda ang serbisyong ginawa ko sa kongreso,? he said.
?My focus now is the province of Sarangani. How I can help lift the standard of living of my constituents. Paano ko sila matutulungang maiangat ang kanilang pamumuhay sa pamamagitan ng pagbibigay sa kanila ng epektibong means livelihood,? Pacquiao said.
?That is already in place with my health care and medical assistance programs. Pati edukasyon ng mga anak nila, haharapin din natin sa tulong ng TESDA. At ang mga ito ay tungo sa pagigin self-reliance ng mga taga-Sarangani,? he added.
?I want to put up at least one hospital or clinic in each and every seven towns of the province.. Magtatayo din tayo ng mga livelihood training center sa mga key towns. At least isang unibersidad ay maitatayo din bago matapos ang term ko,? he continued.
?Tahimik na ngayon ang Sarangani kasi yung mga sumusukong rebelde ay binibigyan na naming ng trabaho. In place na rin yan hanggang sa tuluyan nang magkaroon ng true peace and secdurity ang mga kababayan ko,? Pacquiao said.
?Ang sports, siyempre, hindi ko makakalimutan yan.; dahil galling ako sa pagiging athlete. Siskpain kong maging champion province ang Sarangani sa provincial meets, regional at magings sa national meets tulad ng Palarong Pambansa upang sa ganun ay maka-discover tayo ng made-develop para maging national athletes,? he assured.
?I want to realize this by forming shortly a provincial sports council,? he said. ?I have already directed my staff to make a study on how to make this possible,? he disclosed.
?Material things are not very important to me,? Pacquiao tells everyone. ?What is important to me is my relationship with you. I am honored by your coming here and for being my inspiration,? Pacquiao said, whose main guests seated on the presidential table were hall of fame promoter Bob Arum and wife Lovee, Puerto Rican star Juan Manuel Lopez and revered boxing trainer Freddie Roach whom he calls as the world's greatest coach inside and outside the ring.
In the end, everyone must have been satisfied attending the grandiose birthday party of the country's foremost historical figure in the present era and one of the world's greatest stories but many also were left hanging going home as an expected announcement of his next opponent in the boxing ring -- whether it is Sugar Shane Mosley, Juan Manuel Marquez or Andre Berto -- never came.
Do two token wins over Joshua Clottey and Antonio Margarito (and suspicion of another token bout in March against Shane Mosley) qualify Manny Pacquiao as a "Winner" in 2010? It's tempting to say no.
We boxing fans have grown frustrated with the lack of a big bout between Manny Pacquiao and Floyd Mayweather Jr. Though 2010 was not an unsuccessful year for the sport, we are no closer to the most anticipated match in boxing than we were at this time last year.
Still, if Manny Pacquiao were anyone other than the Manny Pacquiao we've come to expect brilliance from in each and every fight, there's no question this would be a victorious year for any boxer. 2-0 in two of the three biggest pay-per-views of 2010, and he picked up new titles in two different weight classes, furthering his record of most weight division world championships.
Not only that, but he has maintained the Pound for Pound number one ranking in boxing at the end of another year.For a fighter to enter a year with such lofty expectations, and manage to keep us thinking about him the same way at year's end, that should be a success for anyone. It's a testament to Pacquiao's greatness that we would even consider calling this year anything but a success for Pacquiao.
Click here to view a list of other articles written by Eddie Alinea.
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